Customcells expands in Itzehoe

The German battery cell manufacturer Customcells is expanding its site in Itzehoe. Customcells has acquired a new plot of land with an area of around 10,000 square metres. The contract includes the option for an expansion by an additional almost 6,000 square metres within the next five years.

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The municipality and Customcells have agreed not to disclose the purchase price, according to the company. Customcells currently employs around 110 people at the Itzehoe site. By mid-2023, their number is expected to increase to up to 160 people. The groundbreaking ceremony for the three-storey office building on the new site is planned for August 2022. The building should be ready for occupancy within a year.

In a second construction phase, a production and storage hall will be built on the site. The concrete planning for this will begin at the end of the year. Construction of the hall is scheduled to begin in 2023, and the machines are expected to be ready for occupation at the beginning of 2024. Customcells had started expanding production in November 2021, but at that time within the existing buildings.

“We have found the city of Itzehoe to be a fair partner in this project over the past few months, supporting us in many ways and pulling together with us,” says Leopold König, co-founder and managing director of Customcells. “In the end, we are all united by one desire: We want to advance electrification – on the road, in the air, on and under the water, and in the manufacturing industry. Application-specific battery cells are the key technology for this.”

At the Itzehoe site, Customcells says it primarily develops prototypes of application-specific battery cells – i.e. cells whose format and chemistry are precisely designed for the respective application profile. In addition to automotive applications, Customcells develops battery cells for Lilium’s aircraft, for example.

The actual series production then takes place at the Tübingen site. According to the company, “one of the most modern cell production lines in Europe” went into operation there in the spring. Also in Baden-Württemberg near Reutlingen, the 100 MWh cell frabic of Cellforce, the battery joint venture of Porsche and Customcells, is being built.

Update 11 November 2022:

Customcells has now officially broken ground for the announced expansion of its site in Itzehoe. The company was unable to keep the date for the ground-breaking ceremony, which was announced in July for August. The wooden construction of the building is not only intended to be resource-saving, but also to enable an accelerated construction process, so that the building should already be ready for occupancy in the coming late summer. The new building will also add a production and storage facility to the site.

With the expansion and the new office building, Customcells is significantly expanding its capacities in the areas of research and development as well as small batch production. The company is also planning to apply for a number of new patents in the field of battery cell technology from next year onwards.

“The success of the mobility turnaround is very much linked to high-performance batteries,” said Dirk Abendroth, CEO of Customcells Holding. “And in order for these to be developed and produced in a way that is tailored to the respective customer needs, we at Customcells need to grow even faster
grow even faster than before.”

customcells.org, update: customcells.org